Wicked Game
by Kiki6
Summary: Set during the first war against Voldemort, Sirius fights for the Order alongside his best friends. Rated for language, violence, and eventual SiriusRemus slash.
1. Chapter 1

It was a day just like any other. The sun seeped through my blinds, making a striped pattern on my sheets. It's funny how nature gives no notice to what happens in the world. I mean, right now the wizarding world is at war with itself - people are dying and going missing, yet the sun continues to shine. How bloody ironic. Throwing back the sheets, I get up and stretch. I really need to clean my flat or do laundry - I think I've run out of clean clothes. That or they're mixed in with the dirty ones on the floor. It can wait another day. In the meantime, I'll just wear the cleanest looking pants I can find. Right, we have a winner these jeans should do it. I slip them on and walk into the kitchen. I have a vague feeling I left my cigarettes in there last night. Of course, my kitchen is in the same state as my room, and the smokes are nowhere to be seen. Bollocks.

"_Accio_ smokes."

The package of Black Death smokes flew out from under a stack of parchment, tipping it to the floor. I slipped one of the cigarettes into my mouth and lit it with a flick of my wand, walking over to the fridge. Apparently I need to go grocery shopping as well - the fridge is empty save for a box of baking soda and a rather moldy block of cheese. I took a long drag, and then tapped the smoke over the sink, watching the ash hit a plate that was covered in something crusty and green.

I had just returned from a mission that had lasted three weeks and was given the weekend to rest up before I went back to the Order. I had more than enough time to clean up, but I'd be damned if I was going to spend my days off doing more work (even though my flat was turning into a health hazard).

_Tap-tap-tap_. A tawny owl stood tapping its beak against the glass so I opened the window for it; it gave the kitchen an appraising look and stuck out its leg for me to remove the letter.

"Oh, honestly! It's not _that_ bad you, stuck up pigeon."

The owl ruffled its feathers and hooted indignantly before flying off. I rolled my eyes and looked down at the envelope; a familiar scratchy script filled the front. I slit it open and pulled out the letter.

'_Lo Sirius,_

_I heard you just got back from Kent. Do you fancy a cup of tea? Meet me at The Rising Sun at 11:00 a.m._

_Remus_

Strange...this wasn't really like Remus. Ever since the Snape incident in our sixth year at Hogwarts, Remus has acted coolly towards me. Even though we did become friends again four months after that night, we never really connected the same way again. We talked, yes - but neither of us went out of our way to meet the other. So this invitation was kind of odd, but not in a bad way; I miss the way we were before when we could laugh, goof off, look each other in the eye...Maybe I should have apologized right away instead of waiting four months, but who's ever heard of a Black swallowing their pride? Hell, I didn't even apologize willingly - Moony had to beat it out of me. A right sight I was after that. Honestly, you wouldn't think the scrawny bloke could actually throw a decent punch by looking at him - but damn, did he kick my arse.

I took another long drag on the cigarette and blew a couple of smoke rings, then put it out on the crusty plate. I had fifteen minutes before I had to be at the café and I needed to start looking for a clean shirt.

I sauntered into The Rising Sun at exactly ten after eleven - Sirius Black is never early or on time. Instead, I am always fashionably late. It drives James mad, but it makes for a dramatic entrance and it's guaranteed to make me the center of attention every time. I took off my shades and gave the place a once over, sighting Remus sitting in the far right corner, reading a Muggle newspaper. I strolled over to his table and flopped down into a chair with a smile.

"Hello, Remus. Are the Muggles up to anything interesting?"

Remus sighed, folding his newspaper back up.

"Would it kill you to be punctual for once in your life, Sirius?"

"Might; I don't think I want to take the chance."

Remus shook his head, smiling, and flagged down a waitress. I leaned back in my chair and took out my smokes. As I was about to light one, a timid looking blonde waitress informed me that there was no smoking on these premises. I raised an eyebrow at Remus, who looked at his tea innocently. Reluctantly I put the smokes away and ordered a coffee. The waitress flitted off to get my java. Remus and I sat in silence until after she served it.

"You picked this place on purpose."

"Smoking is bad for your health, Sirius."

"Right, whatever. So cut to the chase; why did you ask me here? Is there something wrong?"

He regarded my left shoulder thoughtfully over the rim of his teacup, pausing to take a sip from the cup before he spoke.

"Nothing is wrong, really; I just wanted to talk to you."

I remained silent, waiting for him to continue. He began tapping his fingers on the table - his nervous habit. Sighing, he finally looked up, staring me squarely in the eyes; I was so shocked I almost didn't hear what he said next.

"Look, Sirius, this last mission you went on wasn't supposed to take so long. It should have been an in-and-out job, possibly taking a couple of days. No, don't explain what happened - I already read the report. It just made me think; I was worried about you, Sirius. I thought something horrible had happened to you; that you had been captured or even killed. I kept thinking about how I had been treating you for the last four years. You know that I never really forgave you - at least, not entirely. The point is: I want to put that all behind us and ask for your forgiveness. I've been just as pigheaded as you have been."

"Don't mention it, you stupid git, now do you have a tissue? That eloquent speech of yours has brought tears to my eyes."

He grinned and playfully tossed a creamer at me.

"Wanker."

I stuck my tongue out at him and threw the creamer back.

"Takes one to know one."

"Still as immature as ever, I see."

"Not so; I just have a healthy relationship with my inner child, unlike you. I believe you bludgeoned yours to death with a history book."

"Shut up and drink your coffee, Black."

"Actually I take it with cream and sugar, thanks."

We stayed in that café for three hours, simply talking and laughing like we did before. Honestly, I forgot that a war was going on at all. I forgot, that is, until I apparated back into my flat, where I found Frank Longbottom walking out of my bedroom, frowning.

"Sirius, there you are!"

"Indeed I am, but what were you doing in my bedroom, Frank? Stealing my underwear?"

"This is no time to be joking, Sirius. James and Lily have been captured by Death Eaters. Dumbledore wants a rescue crew sent out immediately."

"What?! Wait, no - fill me in the details later, let's go!"

"Right. They were last seen in York, so we are to rendezvous with the others at 309 Queen's Street. Quickly now; I'll see you there."

With a loud popping sound, Frank disapparated from sight. I quickly ran into the den, cursing while I snatched up my leather coat. Those bastards! If they did anything to James and Lily, there would be hell to pay! Concentrating on the address Frank had given me, I apparated to York. In an instant I was in an unfamiliar living room filled with familiar faces. Spotting him, I immediately rounded on Frank.

"Start explaining. _Now._"

He leaned against the fireplace, his arms crossed. He looked positively grim. As he spoke he paced the length of the room.

"Twenty minutes ago we were given confirmation of James and Lily's capture by one of our insiders. They are currently being held in a manor east of this city. However, we do not know the exact location of said manor, or how heavily guarded it is; the insider only heard a vague conversation about it. Nevertheless, we can assume that security there will be tight, considering the hostages. We need stealth more than anything, so, Black, I don't care how pissed you are right now; you are _not_ going in there hexing everything in sight. The plan is to sneak in, retrieve the prisoners, and get out. Nobody is to waste time and blood trying to capture any Death Eaters. We want everyone to get out of this _alive_. Understood?"

There was a murmur of consent from the others. I just stood there glaring at Frank. If he thought I'd let those bastards get away with hurting those two, he had another thing coming to him! Lily and James were the only family I had now, so he and those Death Eaters could all go to hell, as far as I was concerned. Frank was now staring at me with narrowed eyes, waiting for me to agree. I glared back at him, refusing to give consent. I felt a hand on my arm, and turned to see Remus gazing at me anxiously.

"They won't want you to do anything stupid, Sirius."

"...Fine."

Frank looked relieved and gave Remus a grateful smile.

"Our scouts should be back soon, so here's what's going to happen: we'll be going in pairs: Edgar and Benjy will circle round to the west side; Emmeline and Hagrid you take the south; Sirius and Remus concentrate on the east wing; lastly, Caradoc and myself will go in through the north. When you find Lily and James send red sparks into the air. Then everybody get out of there as fast as you can."

At just that moment three new people apparated into the living room. Apparently they were the scouts Frank had been talking about; I had never met any of them before. They informed us all of the coordinates of the manor and the visible security (which was very tight, according to what they had seen). I was really starting to lose my patience; the Death Eaters could be torturing Lily and James as we spoke. We had to take action _now_. Frank thanked the scouts, who disapparated as he turned his attention back to us.

"You all heard what they said. Now get moving and remember: _stealth_."

He looked pointedly at me. I angrily flipped him off.

"Just be careful."

I turned to Remus, who was staring at the ceiling with a look of grim determination set on his face.

"Ready, Moony?"

"As ready as I'll ever be, Padfoot."

"Let's go then."

Immediately we apparated, fortunately behind a very large rose bush within the manor's garden. Remus looked around cautiously before giving me a quick nod, indicating that we should sneak behind a gazebo nearby. Half crouching, we hurried behind it and looked up towards the huge manor. No wonder Dumbledore sent so many of us; the building was huge. Finding Lily and James could take a while. Our best bet was to go through a window, but how could we do that and not get caught? I glanced over at Remus, who was still looking at the manor and biting his lower lip. Leaning close to him, I began whispering my plan.

"We should probably go through a window, but we'll need a distraction of some kind..."

"We're supposed to remain stealthy, remember, Sirius?"

"I know, but it'll draw the Death Eaters away from our location. Look, I'll blow up those windows to the east; we'll both do Disillusionment charms, and then quickly sneak in while they're trying to figure out who blew up the drawing room."

"What if James and Lily are in those rooms? You could kill them!"

I waved my hand dismissively.

"The scouts would have seen them if they were in there. Besides, the Death Eaters are stupid, but not stupid enough to place their hostages in clear view."

Remus groaned and ran a hand through his hair then responded, "Alright, we'll do it your way. God, I hope this works."

He quickly performed the disillusionment charm on both of us, still looking agitated.

"On the count of three, then – One...Two...Three! _Explodicus_!"

There was a deafening bang and the sound of shattering glass. A moment later, angry yells filled the air as three Death Eaters ran out of the manor to search the grounds. Remus and I sprinted up one of the garden paths, heading towards the western windows. Luckily, one of the windows was open; a Death Eater was sticking his head out, trying to see what was happening at the other end of the building. Remus uttered a stunning spell, sending the Death Eater flying backwards and allowing us to climb through the window. There were two other men in the room, they raised their wands but before they could say anything we had them both stunned. I crossed the room quickly, peeking through the doorway. It appeared to open into the main hallway. The little distraction the windows had caused was still keeping them busy, but it wouldn't last much longer. I silently beckoned to Remus, and we slipped out of the room. As we were moving down the hall, two Death Eaters began walking towards us. They hadn't spotted us yet because of the disillusionment charms, but they were bound to notice the moving scenery soon. I grabbed Remus' arm, running inside the nearest open doorway. He turned and muttered a locking spell and the door immediately swung shut.

"What the hell?!"

A Death Eater jumped up from the chair he had been sitting in, and quickly uttered a curse that hit my left arm. It ripped my coat and caused a long deep gash in my arm. I swore and pressed my hand over the wound, trying to stop the blood flow. Remus shouted a counter-curse, sending my attacker reeling to the floor, his wand rolling out of his reach. His hood slipped back, and I felt my insides turn to ice as I looked into his face.

"Hello, Regulus."

He went completely white, trying to scramble to his feet. However, Remus was quicker and uttered his spell before Regulus could stand.

"_Impedimenta_!"

Regulus fell back onto the floor, and Remus moved to stand over him, his wand still pointed to his chest. I muttered a healing spell on my arm, getting rid of most of the damage done to it. I slowly walked over to my younger brother.

"Well, Reggie - here's your chance to finally make yourself useful. Where might your sad little club be keeping the hostages?"

"Fuck you, Mudblood lover!" he spat in response.

"Such vulgar language you use, Reggie. _Scourgify_."

Regulus lay on the floor, spitting and choking as bubbles poured out of his mouth.

"Tell us, or you'll wish you had never been born."

I really hoped he would show his traitorous Slytherin colors and spit out James and Lily's whereabouts. Even though I rather despised him, he was still my brother and I had no real intention of hurting him. He glared in my general direction (being unable to see me clearly), but I saw a definite flicker of fear in his eyes. He was still coughing on the bubbles. I muttered the counter curse impatiently.

"Start talking."

"Third floor, fifth door to the right from the stairwell, prick."

"Now was that so hard? _Stupefy_." I turned to Remus and added, "Come on, we have to hurry."

"Wait a minute, Padfoot."

"We don't have any time – "

Remus had dispelled the Disillusionment charm and was now sitting in Regulus' chair, holding the twit's mask. Catching on, I began to grin. Seeing that Remus and Reggie were about the same height and build, this was a bloody brilliant idea. I dispelled the charm on myself and held out my hands, as if I was expecting handcuffs.

"Please don't hurt me Mr. Death Muncher;" Remus raised an eyebrow while I continued. "I was merely taking a little stroll amongst the roses."

Remus' eyes sparkled, though his expression remained serious.

"Quit messing around, Sirius, and help me get his cloak off."

Five minutes later we were walking out into the hallway (well, Remus was walking; I was getting shoved and dragged along). He said we should make it look realistic - and I completely agreed - but did he really have to be so rough? If by some miracle this works and we get of here alive, I'll have bruises for weeks to come. Christ!

We were making our way towards the staircase. A group of five Death Eaters were standing near the base of it. I licked my lips nervously; time to see how good of an actor Remus was. The closest Death Eater stepped forward and leered down at me.

"My, my, my caught Black did you?" He gave me an appraising look then added loftily, "Quite the catch; I assume you were the one who blew up the East Wing?"

I cocked my head to the side, placing my most devious smile on.

"Hmm, yes. Though I must say, it's a pity you weren't there at the time. I have no doubt it would have improved your face a great deal."

He smirked, turning away, and then quickly swung back at me, his fist connecting with my jaw. The force of the punch made me fall back against Remus, who caught me and immediately pushed me to the ground. The hooded idiots were laughing imperiously. Suddenly two more had joined the group; this was not looking good. Suddenly a foot hit me in the chest and I fell flat on my face, completely winded. Through a haze of pain, I tried to catch my breath. A cold drawl floated down from the top of the stairs.

"That's enough, now. Bring Black upstairs and get back to catching the rest of Dumbledore's dogs."

Remus roughly grabbed the back of my leather jacket and hauled me up; Lady Luck was sure smiling on me today. I stumbled a couple of steps but had to stop, still trying to catch my breath. Remus took hold of my right arm firmly, both to support me up the steps and to give the pretence of taking me prisoner. My jaw was throbbing painfully and a coppery taste was in my mouth; the prick had split my lip. Turning my head to the side, I spat on the white-carpeted floor, leaving a red stain. Remus and I began to ascend the stairs.

Author's Note: I'd just like to give a big thank you to Kaltee/Kiwii for beta-ing this chapter. Much praise and worship going your way lady!


	2. Chapter 2

I hate stairs; absolutely loathe them. Unfortunately there are a lot of stairs to climb to get to the third floor. Now throw in the fact that I have a few bruised ribs and you have a very pissed off animagus. Why couldn't they be keeping Lily and James on the first floor?! The things I do for my friends...I should get an Order of Merlin First Class for this. Remus is still supporting me by my right arm, which I'm very grateful for. It's not like its really making it any easier to climb the stairs, but it's a bit relieving to have him by my side. I've always been a complete jumble of nerves, but he's always so calm and his control is helping me to keep a clear head.

Just a few more steps now and we'll be on the third floor landing. The Death Eater who issued orders to the others is nowhere to be seen. He must have disappeared into the room containing Lily and James. However, the hallway was not empty; three Death Eaters stood guard around the fifth door to our right. Remus gave me a shove and I staggered forward. I glared over my shoulder at him; I swear he's enjoying this. Remus pushed me again and I started walking towards the guarded door. One Death Eater opened the door and stepped back for us to walk in.

It was a small rectangular room, barely lit by four candles that were in varying degrees of melting. Three figures were in this room; two of them were seated in uncomfortable looking antique armchairs while the third - a Death Eater - stood studying a painting on the wall. The painting held my interest for a moment with its thrashing figures. It was of an artist's interpretation of Hell - nude figures withering in agony as the flames of Hades licked their bodies. Disgusting, and yet it held a horrible sort of fascination, like being witness to a car crash. At that moment I wished whoever had created the spell to make paintings move had been bashed over the head with a beater's bat.

Tearing my gaze away from that sadistic piece of art, I turned to face the seated figures. Immediately I recognized James' unruly black hair and the sleek red hair of the woman he loves. Both Lily and James were tied to their chairs and gagged. I stepped towards them, but the Death Eater who had been admiring the painting grabbed me by the back of my neck, throwing me to the ground. I hit the floor with a dull thud, rolling onto my back in order to watch for the scum's next move. Lily was trying to yell through her gag, and James was struggling against his bonds so much his glasses slipped off and fell to the floor. I tried to give them my usual cocky grin but, with my split lip, it was more of a grimace.

"So, this is the best Dumbledore has to offer?" The Death Eater prodded me with his foot and laughed. "I'd say that's a bit sad, really."

"Blow me, you daft bastard."

The Death Eater raised his wand and hissed, "_Cruc_ –"

Remus grabbed the Death Eater's arm and brought his own wand into the dark wizard's face.

"_Silencio_!" He whispered fiercely while I scrambled to my feet.

"Untie them," Remus nodded towards Lily and James, struggling to hold onto the hushed Death Eater. "I'll deal with him."

I crossed over to where hostages One and Two were still immobilized. Reaching into my back pocket, I pulled out my most treasured possession - my all purpose jack knife. The knife cut through those ropes effortlessly, and soon a very pissed off James was stalking over to the Death Eater, who was still struggling against Remus. With a look of grim satisfaction on his face, James brought back his fist and smashed it into the prick's face.

"I think your boy toy needs to attend anger management classes, Lily." I quipped as Lily gathered James' glasses from the floor.

"Stuff it Sirius," she said good-naturedly. "By the way, you look like hell."

"You know, when somebody goes through all the trouble of rescuing someone else, that person could at least be grateful."

James walked over to Lily and passed his fiancé her wand, which he had taken off the now unconscious Death Eater, who was sprawled out along the floor.

"Did you say something, Sirius?" James asked while placing his glasses back onto his face.

I sighed dramatically and said in a long-suffering voice, "Never mind."

I glanced over at Remus, who, in turn, was watching us, seemingly amused. When he caught my gaze, a small smile graced his lips and a shiver ran down my spine. I looked away and cleared my throat, which had grown surprisingly dry.

I muttered to James and Lily, "Look, we had better get going. We need to alert the others that we have you and get the hell out of here."

Lily held up her left hand, "Just a minute, Sirius; you aren't going anywhere in your condition." She pointed her wand at my chest, "Hold still now, _Sano!_"

A warm, tingling sensation spread through my body and the pain left me. The redhead was an amazing witch all right. James has good taste, even if she did need more of a sense of humor. I grinned and winked at her in thanks, but she simply smirked at me, turning back to James. Standing a bit on tiptoe, she leaned up and kissed him sweetly on his lips.

"All right, now we can go," she chimed, smiling brightly.

I pretended to gag and Remus snorted, which brought James out of the daze Lily had left him in. He flipped us the bird and said some things that were inappropriate for my virgin ears to hear. Choosing to ignore him, I meandered on over to the door and tossed a wicked grin over my shoulder at my three associates.

"Right, so the stairway we took to get up here has at least half a dozen Death Eaters at the bottom so I suggest we don't take that route. Instead lets continue down the hallway, this place is huge and there can't just be one stairwell that leads here. There's probably a servants passage somewhere up here."

They all stared at me blankly then Remus spoke up, "You want us to run around the floor blindly until we find a passage way that could be anywhere."

I rolled my eyes and said, "Do you have a better plan? Would you rather walk knowingly into a large throng of Death Eaters? Or take a chance that we could possibly slip by undetected?"

He sighed and exchanged worried looks with Lily but said no more. James looked a little more enthusiastic and held his wand in preparation for battle.

"Ready?" I asked roguishly, placing a hand on the doorknob.

I didn't bother to wait for a reply and flung the door open. The three guards only had about five seconds to be baffled before they were thrown off their feet by four different spells. Deciding to take the lead, I ran down the hallway, searching for a window. Where the fuck are all the windows?

"Sirius, watch out!" Remus yelled from behind me.

I whipped my head around to face a Death Eater who had just exited a room to my left. The man spotted us and began raising his wand. There wasn't anytime to stop, so I tackled him. We crashed to the floor with a grunt, and immediately I sat myself up so I was straddling him. I seized the front of his robes and backhanded him in his face. Bringing my fist back again in hopes of striking him again, I was stopped by Remus seizing my arm and hauling me up. Lily and James had kept running and were coming up to a set of windows.

"Oi, Prongs! Shoot red sparks through the window!"

James skidded to a stop and threw open the window. Lily, who was right behind him, whipped out her wand and shot red sparks into the air.

"Which way, Padfoot?!" James called from down the hall.

Yeah, like I knew. "Right!" When in doubt, make shit up.

The two lovebirds took off right, leaving Remus and I struggling to catch up. I could hear Remus gasping for breath beside me, and I was beginning to feel my muscle's straining as well. But, with no time to stop and rest, we continued to sprint, our feet pounding against the plush red carpet. _Just hurry up and get out of here. Once this is over, you can go and get completely smashed _I thought to myself, _and lie in bed for a week,_ _I promise. Just hurry up!_ A door suddenly flew open beside Remus. A look of surprise came across the werewolf's face, and without thinking I turned and stepped forward to shield him. Moony stumbled forward in shock as I raised my wand defensively.

"Whoa, Sirius! It's me! Point that somewhere else!"

"Benjy? Christ, man, don't sneak up on me like that! I could have hexed you back into last week!"

Benjy opened his mouth to argue and Remus made a disapproving sound behind me, but before either of them could start berating me Edgar spoke from behind Benjy.

"Uh, guys? Death Eaters? Probable death? Any of this ringing a bell?"

"Yeah you guys, hurry the fuck up!" James called hastily from the end of the hall.

"James, look out!" Lily screeched, yanking him to the side. A fraction of a second later, a streak of hissing blue light flew past them, missing them by inches.

The four of us dashed towards Lily and James as more spells followed the first. The hallway dazzled with different colored spells, so many incantations being shouted that it was impossible to distinguish what spells were being cast. I went after the Death Eater closest to me, a tall man with sandy hair and too small a nose. The duel was more like a sword fight, our wands flashing, words being spat out of our mouths as quickly as we could think of them. He fell back with a surprised grunt and crashed to the floor. I had no idea what spell I used on him or if it had any unpleasant side effects, but I didn't have the time to care, seeing as Benjy had a Death Eater sneaking up behind him. I sent a stunning spell in the creep's direction and smiled as he fell to the floor. Benjy turned around with a start, called a quick thanks to me and then ran off to Edgar's aid.

There were now more Death Eaters lying motionless on the floor than there were standing, but those that were stunned would soon be back in action. Now would definitely be a good time to get the hell out of here. Moony must have had the same thought wave because he started yelling for us to make a break for it. Edgar and Benjy ran down the stairwell at the end of the hall, James and Lily following more slowly. Prongs' leg had been injured in the scuffle, and was now torn to shreds. He was leaning heavily onto Lily, who was just barely supporting his weight. I reached forward and wrapped his arm around my shoulders, grasping him around his waist.

I said to Lily, "Go on ahead; I can carry him better than you. Run!"

Lily opened her mouth to argue but James cut her off with a kiss, saying, "He's right. Get going and I'll see you soon."

She bit her lip anxiously, glaring at him tearfully. "You better, Potter, or I will track you down and hex you into oblivion." With a final glance back, she turned and took off running.

Remus moved to help me with Prongs, but I shook my head. "Watch Lily's back," I told him, gesturing to the disappearing redhead. James agreed, so Moony dashed off to catch up with Lily. Now left alone, James and I made our way slowly down the steps. He released a low hiss of pain every time he had to put pressure on his injured leg. I decided I might as well try to take his mind off his pain.

"You know, Prongs, this reminds me of our third year – remember when you tried showing off to Lily by attempting to tag the Whomping Willow without getting hit? Ah, the memories; you spent a week in the infirmary and another three weeks in detention."

"As I remember it, you spent four weeks in detention for telling me to do it."

"Injustice! I never said anything of the sort."

James snorted, "Yeah, and I never pulled down Snivellus' underwear in fifth year."

"Do you mind? I had finally repressed that memory."

He chuckled and apologized, quiet ensuing. A few seconds passed in silence, but we both cracked up and started laughing, trying to muffle the sound of our voices.

He glanced at me sideways and said, "I bet he's still right pissed about that."

"_I_ bet he still hasn't washed his underwear."

We both snorted and tried desperately to stop laughing as we came to the bottom of the stairwell. He leaned against the wall for support as I checked to make sure the coast was clear. A doorway stood open across from us; we would be able to get outside through one of the windows. However, I also spotted a couple of Death Eaters walking down the hall, and I knew they would soon pass us. I quickly muttered Disillusionment spells for both Prongs and me, blending us in with the fading wallpaper. Leaning against the open doorway, I strained to hear what they were saying.

"...it'll be our necks if they aren't caught."

"Why are those two so important anyway? That Black kid has been more of a nuisance for our Lord then the two."

"All I know is it has something to do with them being _engaged_."

"That's _it_? He's finally gone stark raving mad."

As they passed us I grabbed hold of James again, still mulling over what I had just heard. The second Death Eater was right; Voldemort was stark raving mad. Pity it took the fellow this long to figure that out. Joking aside, why did it matter to Voldemort that James and Lily would be tying the knot?

Prongs and I made our way into the room opposite the stairwell and opened a window. I slipped out first and looked around again, then began helping James out. Outside of the manor, we were now able to Apparate back to headquarters. But first things first; I just had to ask James about what those Death Eaters had said.

"Prongs, those two Death Eaters were talking about Voldemort being interested in you and Lily because the two of you are engaged. What do you think that's about?"

He looked surprised and shrugged, "Maybe he wants an invite to the wedding." Then he disappeared with a pop.

Author's Note: Another big thank you to Kaltee/Kiwii for being my beta. Also thanks to cocoidie-18, DaredevilX, and Max for reviewing!


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